My obligatory "Here's what I learned" thread

Yesterday I brewed my first all grain beer after 6 batches of extract and here's a few things I learned:

1. I need a new thermometer. Turns out my digital thermo breaks when subjected to higher temps of strike water. I can't shell out the money for a thermapen, but I was thinking about buying this one instead:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002GE2XF8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

2. Sparge water volumes are tricky. I say this because after all the research and calculations I had done, I thought I had it down. I doughed in with 5 gallons (15.5 lbs of grain, roughly 1.5 q/lb), then sparged with three gallons. I ended up with 5 gallons in the kettle. I did another sparge with 1 gallon, and that got me closer to my pre-boil volume.

3. Dialing in my system is going to take a while! I think it could possibly be because I didn't have a reliable way to measure temps, but my mash efficiency was down. Luckily, I was originally shooting for a beer that was going to be pretty high abv, so I'll still end up with a good balance in the end (I hope).

That's about it. I just figured I'd share a few more things (as if it hasn't been said enough) about my particular experience. I'll keep brewing and eventually get everything dialed in, and in the mean time, I'll RDWHAHB!

Sounds like your first all grain was pretty typical, ie., dialing in your system and fine tuning. I am sure you've heard this a thousand times already, but I recommend using some sort of brewing software, such as Beersmith (what I use).The program will pay for itself quickly because it takes so much guesswork out of the process and makes life much, much easier. I've been using it for two years and can't imagine brewing without it. If nothing else, the sparge calculator feature is worth the price alone. It's never lied to me yet and I have always hit my target volumes by following what it said. Good luck in your future all grain endeavors and congrats on a successful first batch!

Beehemel said:

Yesterday I brewed my first all grain beer after 6 batches of extract and here's a few things I learned:

1. I need a new thermometer. Turns out my digital thermo breaks when subjected to higher temps of strike water. I can't shell out the money for a thermapen, but I was thinking about buying this one instead:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002GE2XF8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

2. Sparge water volumes are tricky. I say this because after all the research and calculations I had done, I thought I had it down. I doughed in with 5 gallons (15.5 lbs of grain, roughly 1.5 q/lb), then sparged with three gallons. I ended up with 5 gallons in the kettle. I did another sparge with 1 gallon, and that got me closer to my pre-boil volume.

3. Dialing in my system is going to take a while! I think it could possibly be because I didn't have a reliable way to measure temps, but my mash efficiency was down. Luckily, I was originally shooting for a beer that was going to be pretty high abv, so I'll still end up with a good balance in the end (I hope).

That's about it. I just figured I'd share a few more things (as if it hasn't been said enough) about my particular experience. I'll keep brewing and eventually get everything dialed in, and in the mean time, I'll RDWHAHB!

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First off congrats. I did my first this weekend as well too. How long did it add compared to extract for you? About 2.5 hours here I think.

GroosBrewz said:

Sounds like your first all grain was pretty typical, ie., dialing in your system and fine tuning. I am sure you've heard this a thousand times already, but I recommend using some sort of brewing software, such as Beersmith (what I use).The program will pay for itself quickly because it takes so much guesswork out of the process and makes life much, much easier. I've been using it for two years and can't imagine brewing without it. If nothing else, the sparge calculator feature is worth the price alone. It's never lied to me yet and I have always hit my target volumes by following what it said. Good luck in your future all grain endeavors and congrats on a successful first batch!

Click to expand...

I use beersmith (just started) and it seriously feels pretty clunky in both UI as well as understanding how to use. Is there a video demo of how to use some features (like getting it to tell me my efficiency based on the readings I got)

Any use brew pal on their iphone? I like it, though I only used it once.

Beehemel said:

Sparge water volumes are tricky.

Click to expand...

Not if you batch sparge. Preboil volume minus first runnings volume equals sparge volume.

944play said:

Not if you batch sparge. Preboil volume minus first runnings volume equals sparge volume.

Click to expand...

This is more or less what I do as well. I tend to use more than what is needed then boil off the water to get slightly better efficiency. One thing I've learned from my recent journey into AG is to have extra sparge water. For fun, here are some things I've learned that might help you too:

1. Always check the valves are in the off position. I've poured strike water into the lautering tun with the valve open, I've poured wort into the kettle with the valve open, I've poured cleaning solution into vessels with the valve open while on the counter in my kitchen (always have them pointed towards a sink regardless ).

2. Use more grain than you think you'll need, or have extract on standby. It's possible while starting out that your target gravity will be lower than expected (either because of decreased efficiency or discharging it through a valve...).

3. Get some good equipment. I don't know your setup but I was doing AG in my kitchen and all the extra vapors from heating the necessary water resulted in a warmer house and possibly an overworked AC unit I now use propane.

Some people around here have had good luck with the water resistant taylor digital thermometers. They are usually 10-20$, and work pretty well. I use one and some other cheapo thermometer meant for meat, so the probe is cabled and separate from the electronics. Seems to work okay. Thermapen would be awesome though. Perhaps a xmas gift.

If you batch sparge with a cooler, you can easily hit your mash temps by heating the water 5-10 degrees over your strike water (use software to figure out the strike temp), and dumping into your cooler mashtun. Then close the lid and let it absorb heat. Once it is about 2 or so degrees above strike temp, I dough in and after stirring and taking time to check temp, it usually hits the right temp. This is assuming the thermometer is accurate. I suggest this because it has made my brewdays so much easier.

I would also do some simple drainage tests with water on your equipment. See what kind of actual deadspace there is in the mashtun and kettle. Will help with your volumes and getting consistent results.

I've struggled with quite a number of thermometers so far, went through several of the corded detachable probe ones at different price point, even tried a $20 meat fork digital thermometer but that wasn't water resistant enough either.

I did find one that I like so far, waterproof:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...mometers/proaccurate-digital-thermometer.html
I used it for the first brew session this weekend and even dropped it into 180 degree wort and it survived after a quick rinse under cool water so the display wasn't blacked out from the heat. I appreciate that I can set it down on a flat surface with the display facing down so I don't have to worry about the probe touching anything, it reads the temp within a few seconds, and it shows 1/10th degrees. It reads quick enough that an arm through the steam did not bother me. The only area where I would like a different kind of thermometer is when I want to leave a probe immersed with a temp alarm such as heating strike water while doing other things.

Dgonza9 said:

Any use brew pal on their iphone? I like it, though I only used it once.

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I mess around with it designing recipes. It does a good job for the price. I transfer the recipe to Beersmith for fine tuning.

I read every thread I could find when I went all grain and had to have an accurate, reliable thermometer. I have one of those Polder digital thermometers with a cable and a probe, but it was obvious that wasn't going to work for brewing.
Anyway, I read a lot of stories, endorsements, and condemnations, and I ended up biting the bullet and buying a Thermapen. Over a year, and absolutely no regrets. I not only use it for brewing, where it shines for portability since I have to do measurements in two locations, but also in baking, which I do a lot.

My favorite thing about the Thermapen: it registers a stable temperature in only a few seconds, which the other digitals I've used do not.

ok, I'll try to answer all questions and make all my points in this one post...GO!

1. I use Brewtarget because it's free, but I haven't really figured it all out yet. I would not be opposed to buying beersmith or something similar in the future though.

2. This was my first run with my new mash tun (rubbermaid cooler) and I didn't know exactly how much heat I was going to lose. I kind of preheated the tun by pouring a little near boiling water in it and tipping it back and forth to get the sides.

3. I'll check out the thermometers posted in the suggestions, and I'll add the thermapen to my wishlist as it seems to be the best all around tool for the job.

4. My strike water temp was pretty close (I think, broken thermometer and all), so I've got a good handle on that

5. I said in my original post that sparge volumes were tricky, that's probably because I relied on various online calculators to tell me how much water I needed, and when it came up a little short, I was worried for a half second until I realized I could just do another sparge (I'm batch sparging for now)

I think this is going to be a great step forward in my brewing once I get all the kinks worked out. Thanks for all the support and suggestions!

944play said:

Not if you batch sparge. Preboil volume minus first runnings volume equals sparge volume.

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Make sure to also factor in grain absorption rate. I think a reasonable factor is about 0.12 qt/lb.

I second the idea of having some extract (DME) on hand at pre/post boil. If you're not the RDWHAHB type to just let it ride, throwing some DME in to make up for a lower-than-expected efficiency can get you back on track with regards to a missed OG.

cactusgarrett said:

Make sure to also factor in grain absorption rate. I think a reasonable factor is about 0.12 qt/lb.

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Ignore absorption. That's my point.

With the help of some awesome folks here and by doing a hell of a lot of reading before I jumped into AG, I felt pretty comfortable with my setup and approach.

The #1 thing I have learned so far is that organization is your friend. Have a gameplan and try to get EVERYTHING laid out before you even start...even the night before. You will be amazed how many things you forgot about if you have some time to think about it. This will save you a lot of hassle and potential batch ruining mistakes.

Also, if at all possible, a nice large workspace is a huge plus. I really like to spread out so equipment and ingredients are easy to find.

John

944play said:

Not if you batch sparge. Preboil volume minus first runnings volume equals sparge volume.

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Thats pretty darn smart. Never thought about it like that.

944play said:

Ignore absorption. That's my point.

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Yup. I missed that you were referencing post-sparge - good point. I just assumed that since he was low on his pre-boil, it looked like he wasn't taking into account that absorbed amount.

Another aside, I've been looking at Beersmith, and it only works in Windows. I'm not against running virtualization/Wine (on my linux machine), but my primary machine is a Mac.

EDIT: I found a couple that work with Mac, Beer Tools Pro and Beer Alchemy. I'll look around the forums for some experiences with those!

As for thermos, I just use el cheapo Wal Mart remote probe turkey thermos. I just loop them around the boil pot handle and dangle them into the wort so the sleeve is above the wort. They have alarms on them and are $20 or so. When mashing, I use two and average the temps...they can vary by about 2-3 degress.

Sounds like we are the exact same; 6 extract beers and onto All Grain...Once you get dialed in, you won't regret it. But you'll still have a crappy beer or two here and there.

chrislehr said:

I use beersmith (just started) and it seriously feels pretty clunky in both UI as well as understanding how to use.

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Ok, then you really don't want to use Beer Tools Pro...I was considering a switch to BS becuase BTP feels kludgey to me. Grass is greener...

Dgonza9 said:

Any use brew pal on their iphone? I like it, though I only used it once.

Click to expand...

I got it when I got my Iphone over a year ago. Great software, but be sure to either back up your phone or email yourself the recipes since any problems with your phone and all your recipes will be gone.